PESHAWAR: Following a high-powered Pakistani delegation’s visit to Kabul last week, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to set up a technical committee to sort out their differences, said senior Pakistani diplomats in Kabul on Monday.
“Last week, Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, went to Kabul to hold a meeting with the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s top intelligence agency, and decided to form a committee to resolve outstanding issues,” a senior official at Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul, who declined to be named, told Arab News.
In a follow-up meeting on Sunday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Zahidullah Nasrullah Khan and Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman held discussions to move forward and settle bilateral issues, he added.
According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting between Khan and Zaman focused on some important bilateral arrangements as well as upcoming events.
“The two sides covered a host of issues related to bilateral ties,” the ministry’s statement added.
It stated that the discussions also included the upcoming Beijing Dialogue and the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) meeting due to be held in Kabul in the coming weeks.
APAPPS framework provides an inclusive mechanism to enhance engagement between the institutions of the two countries.
“During the course of meeting between the two intelligence chiefs, they discussed a range of issues, such as the summoning of the Afghan Ambassador, Atif Mashal, by intelligence officials in Islamabad, harassment of Pakistani diplomats in Kabul, construction of Pakistan Army check post on the Pak-Afghan border, dispute over the Afghan Market in Peshawar and firing incidents on civilian population in Chitral district by the Afghan security forces,” the Pakistani official added.
The technical committee, he continued, would evaluate the reasons behind the growing diplomatic tensions between the two estranged neighbors.
Pakistan, Afghanistan mull joint committee to reduce tensions
Pakistan, Afghanistan mull joint committee to reduce tensions
- The committee will identify issues resulting in growing diplomatic tensions between the two countries
- Last week, Pakistan’s DG ISI held a candid meeting with the NDS chief in Kabul
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
